Hey guys! I'm back with the next chapter of the story, and I feel like this is a good one. Remember, if you want to see me continue this story then show some support and leave me a review or a pm. And without further ado, let's get down to it!

Ash groaned. He couldn't figure out where he was. The last thing he remembered was fighting that Tyranitar with Pikachu. There had been an explosion and then everything went black. Other than that he didn't remember anything. Except… there was that moment when he thought he heard Serena talking to him…

Pikachu… Serena…

Ash's eyes suddenly flew open. He coughed, and struggled to move. Falling back against the tree he was propped up against, he tried to just turn his head and look around. To his right, laying in the grass a few feet away, was Pikachu. His best friend looked a little worse for wear, but as Ash watched he saw that he was still breathing.

Past him, leaning against a tree, was Serena. She seemed to be fast asleep, and was covered from head to foot in dirt and what looked a little bit like small bits of ash. She looked exhausted, but still seemed to be in better shape than he and Pikachu.

As he tried to move again, he suddenly yelped as his leg was overtaken with pain… which in turn caused Serena to stir from her exhausted slumber.

She looked around the clearing groggily, attempting to get her bearings back in order, until finally her eyes fell on the spot where Ash was attempting to get up. She got up, suddenly awake as forced her way over to where Ash lay.

"Your awake! How are you feeling?" She said upon reaching his side. He looked terrible. He was covered from head to foot in grim and had holes riddling his clothing, and when he tried to rise she noticed him wincing in pain.

"Ash! Stop trying to get up!" She said, afraid he would hurt himself even more than he already had.

"S… Serena… What happened?" Ash asked, his voice shaking.

"Well, after the explosion I waited for you to come out, but when I didn't see you I decided to go and look. When I found you, you were unconscious, so I had to carry you and Pikachu out of the smoke."

"And what about Tyranitar?"

"I didn't see it, but the smoke was really thick so it was hard to tell where it was."

"Hmmmm…" Ash said, sinking into his thoughts. He tried to move a little and instantly winced again.

"Ow…"

"Where does it hurt?" Serena said, slipping off her backpack.

"My leg."

Carefully, Serena began to roll up his pant leg, until she managed to reveal a long gash in Ash's shin. It didn't look too deep, but it was obvious that it was causing him pain.

"Alright, it's just a cut. I'll just bandage it." She said, digging through her pack. She eventually pulled out a long red scarf and a small canteen.

"Alright, I'm gonna try to wash it out, okay?" Ash just nodded.

Unscrewing the cap from her canteen, Serena slowly poured water onto Ash's leg and gently wiped the area around the wound with a piece of cloth she kept in her pocket. Once all the blood and dirt was gone, she began tightly wrapping the scarf around his leg and the tied it off.

"How is it feeling?" Serena asked.

Ash smiled. "I think it's a little better now, thanks."

Serena smiled back and then went back to digging through her pack again. This time, she pulled out a potion and gently sprayed it on all of Pikachu's wounds.

She then disposed of the empty canister and, with more digging in her bag, pulled out a small container, which she carried over to Ash.

"Here." she said, handing him the container. As he opened it, his eyes went wide. The container held an assortment of food that all looked amazing. He glanced up at Serena.

"Are you sure? I don't want to take your lunch from you."

She smiled at him. "Don't worry, you obviously need it more than I do."

And with that, Ash dug in. Serena smiled as she watched the raven haired boy tear into the food. And then she remembered the situation they were in.

"Okay, so what do we do now?" she asked.

"I don't really know. Normally, I would just ask Fletchinder to go get Clemont and Bonnie, but I left him back at our camp site. And who knows how long it will take them to find us. But then we also have no idea which way would lead us back towards the road. I guess the only choice is to stay here and wait."

"Alright… well what do we do until then? I don't have my own tent and I only have enough food for one person for a few days. Not to mention I used a lot of my water cleaning your cut." Serena said, getting more frustrated the more she talked.

"Well, food shouldn't be too big a problem. A forest like this is bound to have a ton of berry trees." Ash said, glancing around the clearing. "As for the other things, I'm not really sure what to do."

"Alright then, I think I'll go and…" Serena stopped, suddenly hit with another wave of exhaustion.

"Serena! Come on and sit down, you're not in any condition to go out by yourself."

"But we need to find out…"

"That can wait, now just sit for a while."

Serena stumbled over and plopped herself right next to Ash. "Okay… don't let me sleep too long…" and with that she fell asleep.

Ash smiled at his friend and, settling back against the tree next to her, felt his eyes close as he fell asleep.

About four hours later, Serena began to wake up. Ugh… why is this so uncomfortable? As she attempted to move into a more comfortable position, she felt something soft brush up against her. Confused, she slowly opened her eyes, though she still felt exhausted. She looked to see what the soft thing had been and immediately caught her breath.

Next to her, sleeping, was Ash. She began blushing as she realized what had happened. In her sleep, not only had she rested her head on his shoulder, but she had somehow managed to wrap her arms around his, and seemed to be hugging it rather tightly.

Serena began to panic silently. How did this happen? What do I do? Do I try to move away? But if I move my arms he might wake up! What do I do? As she began thinking of ways to get out of her current situation, Serena felt a wave of exhaustion hit her again. Oh no! I can't fall asleep like this! What do I do? What do I do? But, try as she might, she just couldn't fight the need for more sleep. Crap! I really hope I wake up before he does! She thought, sinking back into her sleep.

Another three hours passed before Serena finally stirred once more from her sleep. She immediately looked over and was relieved to see Ash was still asleep.

And then she looked down.

She could feel her entire face flush bright crimson as she tried to figure out what had happened this time. They were still in the same position as when she had last woken up, with her still holding Ash's arm tightly. The only difference this time was…

HOW THE HELL WAS I HOLDING HIS HAND?

Alrighty guys! That's a wrap for chapter 9! I guess I'm gonna have to do something special for chapter 10, huh. Well, before that I will be uploading the first chapter to my new SAO story, so keep a look out for that. I'm aiming to upload it before the end of the week since I'm getting close to finishing it now. Anyways, thanks to everyone for reading. Please leave me a review or a pm telling me what you think of the story so far and any ideas you guys have to make it better. Peace!